Remember when we worried about offending people if we used the words, “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holiday”?

 

(Some people still feel this way but I, for one, am not gonna let political correctness dictate my rhetoric).

 

Remember when people would say, “Let’s keep  ‘Christ’ in Christmas.”

 

Well I’m here to say, “Let’s keep ‘Christ” in Christians.”

 

Last weekend Terri and I were in St. Cloud doing a little holiday shopping and on one of our trips we stopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I rolled out of my Jeep and walked to the back of the vehicle where I was summoned by an older lady pushing a shopping cart.

 

“Can you please help me load this?” she asked me, referring to a huge box that held a brand new vacuum cleaner.

 

I was taken aback a little — I even felt a little awkward since I rarely get asked by a perfect stranger to help with something — especially by a frail, little old lady — but I looked to Terri who had already made her way to the front door of the store and I told the lady, “sure.”

 

A feeling I had not had in a while swept over me as she jiggled her keys in her vehicle’s trunk. Here, this sweet little old lady trusted me — a perfect stranger — to help her get her package into her vehicle in a public parking lot. 

 

I couldn’t help but think if I hadn’t been asked, who would she have called out to? It could have been a criminal or someone thinking it was the perfect chance to steal her packages, her money or take her car. It was the light of day but still, some criminals don’t care about time and place as much as a window of opportunity.

 

The timing meant this “chance encounter’ was meant to be and I felt honored, privileged and respected — the kind of feeling you get when you hold a door for someone, return a lost wallet or fix a flat — a hero in a sense for doing something simple and nice for someone you don’t even know.

 

As I lifted the bulky box from the cart and placed it in her trunk, I felt bad because it didn’t quite fit lengthwise and had to be propped up slightly just behind the back seat — but she assured me it was fine and thanked me for my help. I said “you’re welcome” and offered to take her cart back up to the store and she smiled and said, “thank you!”

 

I hesitated a little as we simultaneously smiled and I wished her a “Merry Christmas” in which she reciprocated with the same phrase.

 

As I sauntered to the store with the cart rolling in front of me, I felt like I too was on wheels gliding across the parking lot. My step felt lighter and my heart was “pitter-pattering” faster — just from that little gesture. 

 

And it wasn’t my gesture to her, but her gesture to me.

 

It was a reminder to me that the season of Christmas is way more than getting and giving presents — it’s being there for others in their time of need and sharing “Christ” to others. 

 

I know that old lady felt good that there was someone kind enough to help her with her package and I hope she saw the “Christ” in me. I felt good knowing that old lady put her trust in me to help her. 

 

Without knowing it, she had given me an early Christmas present — a reminder to keep “Christ” in Christmas.

 

And keep “Christ” in my Christianity.